the bolt that had turned into the wave, but this time it wasn’t residing in my chest so much as residing a little more south of it. I made a quick mental note to secretly add to my list later that I clearly liked men, and muscular ones at that.
“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Noah said from behind me.
“Don’t worry,” I called over my shoulder, not looking back at him because I was still trying to swallow away the smile that had consumed my face. “I think I’m a climber!” I put my foot onto the first rope and tried to climb, but the thing swung wildly.
“Whoooo!” I hung on and tried to stop it from swinging.
“It doesn’t really keep very still,” Maxine pointed out. “You need a strong core.”
Core? What was a core? I didn’t know what it was, but I was sure I had one.
“It’s okay! I have one of those!” I called, and this time I think I heard Noah chuckle. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. In fact, it only spurred me on. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but eventually I was managing. Although it was starting to hurt like hell. My arms and legs and stomach were burning as if on fire. I’d never experienced such bodily, fiery feelings before. Until this moment, I hadn’t known they existed. Pain, I understood. But this burning, just below the skin, as if my muscles had been set alight, well, that was a new one. But I persisted. Resisting the burn and climbing higher. But when the burn turned into a twitch, a shake, that I could actually see happening in my arms and legs . . .
“OH MY . . . AAAAH!” I yelled as I lost my footing on the rope and disaster struck.
CHAPTER 21
My feet slipped into the mesh and the force of my body drove my legs all the way through, the ropes climbing my thighs until they finally stopped right at the top. The force of it threw me backwards and I reached out to stop myself, closing my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the ground rushing towards me. Only there was no way I was falling, not with my legs so tightly knotted into the rope mesh. So instead of tumbling out of the thing, which would have actually been preferable, my arms and shoulders slipped into two mesh holes and the force of my fall pushed me right in there. Deep, until I felt the ropes cutting into my shoulders. But it didn’t stop there.
My body shook violently, and with each move the ropes kept tightening around me like nooses. And when it was all over, when everything no longer moved, I opened my eyes and looked at the world. I was upside down. Stretched out on my back, my legs wedged in, my arms wedged in, and I was just hanging there.
“Are you alright?” Noah shouted from down below.
“NO! Help!”
“Oh my God!” The usually calm Noah sounded panicked, which unsettled me greatly. Blood rushed into my face and pooled somewhere in my forehead.
“I’m coming,” Noah called, and even though all the blood was making my head feel bigger than I think it really was, it didn’t stop me having the thought that this was rather gallant of him. Coming to my upside-down rescue.
I watched as Noah started climbing the mesh ropes, followed by Maxine, who was rushing up it like a pro. The shaking of the ropes as they climbed, only seemed to wedge me in even tighter. A small crowd had gathered below, most of them large muscle-bound men, some with their shirts off. Some looked shocked. Some were shaking their head. Some were smiling. Finally, Noah and Maxine reached me. It felt like it took two forevers just to get to me.
“Can you unstick yourself?” Noah asked.
I pulled against the ropes, but my arms and legs were so wedged in there that I couldn’t move.
“No,” I squeaked in a small voice.
“Right, how are we going to do this?” Noah asked Maxine, who was on my left, while Noah was on my right. I turned and looked at Maxine. She tilted her head as she looked me over.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” she said.
This did not make me feel better.
“Should we try to get her legs out first, or her arms?” Noah asked.
“Mmmm, legs first,” she replied after some thought.